About us

In 1988, James Wild set out on a mission being to create a group of singers which could reach a high standard with just three or four rehearsals each year and who love touring. The result - Sine Nomine.

The choir is perhaps unique in that it includes a large number of singers who are themselves conductors, of adult and/or children's choirs. Some have made a name for themselves in their own right, with two former winners of the BFYC "Conductor of the Year" award and many others with award-winning choirs.

The choir sings a very varied repertoire, which includes music to suit all tastes, from sixteenth century motets and madrigals from different countries, through 19th and 20th century part songs, to spirituals, popular items and African repetoire. Sine Nomine has had the great privilege of participating in workshops with Jonathan Rathbone (former director of the King's Singers) and was proud to be asked to record a CD of compositions by Alan Bullard for OUP.

Sine Nomine has undertaken many foreign tours, including Belgium, Norway, Canada, France, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Italy. Whilst in Vaison-la-Romaine in the South of France, the choir performed in an ancient amphitheatre to an audience of over 5000! In 2008 we visited Leipzig and Dresden, and in 2010 we travelled to Krakow in Poland. Sine Nomine has also enjoyed performing at a wide variety of venues throughout the UK, including Dunblane Cathedral, The Sage, Gateshead, the Worcester Three Choirs Festival and the Edinburgh Festival in 2011. The choir is also honoured to have been a guest choir at The Presteigne Festival three times.

Susan Hollingworth

A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, where she studied voice, Susan divides her time between her work as a Choral Director and Music Educator. In 1990 she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship for her work with choirs. In 2010, she was awarded "Choir Master of the Year" by the Gramophone Magazine. This is a community music award, given to those who have made the greatest impact in their singing communities.

As well as being the Conductor of Sine Nomine International Touring Choir, Susan has been Musical Director of Scunthorpe Co-operative Junior Choir for well over 30 years, taking on the role of Artistic Director in 2014. This open access choir won the overall title of BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year in 2008. They took part in the BBC Proms in September 2009 singing Handel's Messiah and received rave reviews. In 2000 they travelled to Sydney to take part in the Olympic Torch Processions; they sang at the opening night celebrations of the Millennium Dome and at the first Holocaust Memorial Service at Westminster. Together with Proper Job Theatre Company, the choir commissioned and produced a large scale Community Opera, Cycle Song, for the Cultural Olympiad in 2012, involving 1,500 performers. This received a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2013 in the Learning and Participation category.

Susan's Music Education work includes giving workshops for Making Music, Sing for Pleasure and Youth Music. She has conducted Noye's Fludde at the Three Choirs Festival and has created and conducted children's concerts at the York Early Music Festival. In December 2009, BBC Radio 3 invited her to lead performances of the Hallelujah Chorus in Glasgow and London, with participants who were new to singing and who were encouraged to join a choir. For the BBC, she has also conducted an afternoon Family Prom in the Albert Hall and has guest presented an edition of The Choir for BBC Radio 3. She has also adjudicated for BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year, Coleraine, Elgin and Don Valley festivals.

In 2014, Susan was invited to become a Vice-president of the Association of British Choral Directors and "The Face of Music Education" for The Incorporated Society of Musicians.